This invention relates to electronic timepieces and more particularly to an electronic timepiece having a circuit for conserving battery power during the "shelf-life" of the electronic timepiece.
After an electronic timepiece either of the active (i.e., light-emitting diode) or passive (i.e., liquid crystal or electrochromic) display type is manufactured, one or two miniature batteries are inserted, and operation of the timepiece commences. The electronic timepiece is then tested and shipped for sale. During the "shelf-life" of the timepiece, which is the time period from which the electronic timepiece is manufactured and tested, shipped from the manufacturer to the distributor, shipped from the distributor to the retailer and sold by the retailer to the consumer, a significant portion of the total life of the battery may be expended.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved electronic timepiece.
It is another object of the invention to provide an electronic timepiece which conserves battery power during the "shelf-life" of the electronic timepiece.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an electronic timepiece which is simply initialized to a predetermined state for testing and/or setting of the electronic timepiece.